ENS App and Explorer are on the Sepolia testnet. Features may change before mainnet.
Transferring a name hands it to another wallet for good. You do it from the name's Ownership tab in ENS Explorer. Before you sign, decide whether the name should keep working with your records or start blank for the new owner. Step 4 explains what each choice does.
Good to know
Records belong to the name, not to you. Your ETH address, avatar and social links travel with it unless you clear them first.
A name in its grace period (the window after it expires) cannot be transferred. Renew it first.
Transferring is a transaction, so you need a little ETH for gas. Gas is the network fee; your wallet shows it before you approve.
Transfer a name
If there are records you want to change or clear before the name moves, open the Records tab and do it now. An address record that still points at your wallet is the one to watch. If you would rather hand the name over blank, leave this and switch on Detach the resolver at step 4 instead.
Go to the Ownership tab and select Transfer, at the top right.
In the Recipient field, enter an ENS name or a wallet address. Explorer shows the address a name resolves to underneath. Check that address: a transfer cannot be undone.
Choose whether to Detach the resolver. The resolver is the contract on the Ethereum network that holds the name's records and answers lookups. Off: the name keeps your records, so it carries on pointing at your wallet until the new owner changes them. Anyone looking up your wallet may still see the name as its primary name, and anything sent to the name still arrives with you. On: the name stops resolving the moment the transfer confirms, and the new owner sets up their own records from scratch. Neither is the safe option: off hands over a name that still points at you, on hands over a name that answers nothing until the new owner acts.
Select Transfer name and sign the transaction in your wallet. The Ownership tab shows the new owner once it confirms.
A name is an NFT (a token one wallet holds at a time), so sending it from your wallet's NFT view, or selling it through a marketplace, transfers it the same way.
What moves with the name
Every role you hold on the name moves to the new owner in the same transaction.
Roles you granted to other wallets stay as they were. If you are receiving a name, check its Roles tab to see who else can act on it.
The records, the expiry date and the resolver do not change, unless you switched on Detach the resolver.
Common questions
Why can't I transfer my name?
A name can only be moved if it carries the Can Transfer role. A name you registered yourself always has it; the Roles tab lists it against your address. A name you were given, such as a subname, may not. If Can Transfer is missing, nobody can move the name, and no role grant will change that. A name in its grace period also cannot be transferred; renew it first.
Can I give someone transfer rights without handing over the name?
No. Can Transfer is fixed at registration and cannot be granted later. To let someone manage a name without owning it, grant them a role such as Set Resolver from the Roles tab instead. See Who can manage my name? Roles in ENS Explorer.
My token ID changed after the transfer. Did something go wrong?
No. Your roles moved as part of the transfer, and any role change gives the name a new token ID, the number that identifies it as an NFT. A marketplace listing tied to the old token ID stops working. See Why did my name's token ID change?
Can I get the name back if I sent it to the wrong address?
Only the new owner can send it back. Check the address before you sign.